Battle of Rusuzarg's Landing
An engagement that took place during the larger Battle of the Broken Shore, the Battle of Rusuzarg's Landing was a failed attempt by the Stormwindian Greyhallow Brigade and Greyhallow Fleet to form a beach head on Thal'dranath. Prelude Legion Defences Like the majority of beaches capable of use by a landing force, the nondescript beach that would become known as Rusuzarg's Landing was reinforced by a number of Legion forces soon after their return to Azeroth. Having it's defence placed under the commander of Fel Commander Rusuzarg, a veteran Mo'arg Fel Lord, the beach was soon fortified and defended by a large number of demon forces, almost completely made up of Mo'arg and Gan'arg troops. Within hours of the Legion's arrival, the beach had been fortified with two main lines of defence, an initial line of trenches and felsteel barricades situated 600 yards from the water and another 400 yards back a thick wall of fused rock and demonic metal, which was further enhanced by being built into the crags at the rear of the beach. The final areas of defence consisted of two small demonic spires, both built on existing rocky outcrops, with one situated in the centre of the initial line of defence and the other situated at the north-eastern end of the same line. These towers were complimented by summoning of a large fortress at the waterline in the centre of the beach. This fort was outfitted with a number of fel cannons and a basic road leading back toward the legion encampments further inland. Rustridgi Landing Force Meanwhile, as the demonic forces fortified the beach, the Greyhallow Fleet, aside from the single squadron left to defend the peninsula itself, was tasked with escorting the fleet of transport ships that was set to bring the Greyhallow land forces to the Broken Shore. Initially attached to the main Alliance-Horde fleet, the Rustridgi forces split off and sailed north-west toward their designated beach. The standing orders at the time of the landing were for the force to make a beach head by removing what little Legion forces were believed to be occupying the area and march inland to support the main Alliance push. The fleet was intended only for shore bombardment and as such was not outfitted with anti-air capacities or large amounts of ammunition. The Battle Phase 1: Initial Bombardment and Beach Assault Arriving in the early hours of the morning of August the 8th, the Greyhallow Fleet immediately split into two groups upon its approach to the beaches, with the frigates and battleships sailing in to begin their bombardment of the shore defences while the corvettes and transports remained farther offshore. Additionally, two small flotillas of galleys, each carrying a battalion of the Greyhallow Brigade's Strommyr division made their way toward the beach, dropping off their cargo of the initial landing upon the start of the bombardment. As planned, the frigates and battleships of the Greyhallow Fleet began their shore bombardment as soon as they had reached their required positions, long before the early morning fog that had masked their approach began to clear. This initial bombardment sent 7248 pounds of Round Shot, Explosive Shells and Hollenfyre Shot into the demonic defences, utterly devastating the unprepared Legion forces. Meanwhile, the newly landed Strommyr units assaulted both the first line of trenches and the central Legion fortress, quickly forcing the demons to retreat within half an hour of the opening bombardment. The relative ease with which the initial assault had captured the first line of trenches allowed the remaining transports in the fleet to be brought up to the beaches ahead of schedule and land the rest of the Rustridgi forces, allowing the newly captured beachhead to be reinforced and preventing any major demonic counter attack from overrunning the Strommyr units. However, appearance of a quick victory also caused complacence among the Brigade and Fleet commanders and they chose not to pursue their advantage immediately, which inadvertedly allowed the demons time to regroup and reinforce at their second line of defences. Phase 2: First Attempt at the Second Line Aftermath Notes Category:Battles Category:Burning Legion Category:Greyhallow Brigade Category:Greyhallow Fleet